The Exhaustion of Rest
by Passionate Cec
Summary: A few weeks after Sam's incident, SG1 has a quiet team night at her place. Sequel to Knee Buddy. Once again the whole team is there, but it's mostly about Sam and Jack.


Once again, I apologize for the long wait. And my way of apologizing is to post 2 stories at once. I hope you will like them both. :)

This is a sequel to _Knee Buddy_.

And I don't have much more to say except : Stargate SG1 and its characters don't belong to me. I make no money with this story. Its sole purpose is entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.

Oh and, the little blue link at the bottom of the page is waiting for you to click it. And I am waiting for the result. Let me know what you think. I'd love to hear about it.

Enjoy. :)

**The Exhaustion of Rest**

'Major Carter, move your hand, slowly and carefully and no one will get hurt.' Sam froze and looked up. He looked very serious.

'Sir?'

'You heard me Major. Move your hand away from the remote.'

'But sir -'

'Major.' He sternly interrupted.

Sam complied, resting against the back of the couch again, right leg stretched out in front of her, her foot resting on top of three pillows on the coffee table. On the rest of the table were scattered two empty bottles of beer and two half full ones, forks, plates, Chinese take-out boxes, a navy blue mug, wooden sticks, a can of root beer, a pain pill bottle, paper towels and a glass. The remote was sitting on the arm of the couch and was out of reach again as Colonel O'Neill had dropped on the couch next to her, offering her a cheeky grin.

'You do know we're in my house, sir.' She stated for the sake of it. She didn't really care what they were watching. She would be out of it in barely half an hour anyway so it really didn't matter to her. 'And I'm injured.' He chuckled and shook his head at her.

'Nice try Carter. Us boys are doing all the work.' Her eyebrows shot up.

'That's not fair, sir.' She exclaimed, pouting, even though she knew he was simply teasing her. She was getting tired and even the most ridiculous thing made her want to cry, as stupid as it may sound. 'You know I would help you. I even offered to help. But you kicked me out of the kitchen.'

'Carter, you can barely stand.'

'I know. But I feel so useless.' She admitted, pouting some more.

She didn't know why she was feeling so down. Maybe because she was sick of being at home. Her knee had healed slower than expected and three weeks after she hurt just about every ligament in her knee she was still stranded at home with express order to move as little as possible. And she was getting sick of it. The boys were amazing and were helping her out as much as they could, although she suspected they were feeling as useless as she. With the main scientist on medical leave they couldn't go to important planets. They had gone to a few planets that had interesting temples for Daniel but nothing remotely interesting for Colonel O'Neill or Teal'c.

Sam had insisted he go to the archeological site they had set up on P5R-484 but he had refused, saying that there was still a lot of work to be done there and that he could go whenever he wanted. She had made him promise he would go as soon as she got cleared for desk duty. He had reluctantly agreed but she had seen how happy he had been about getting a chance to go there. The light in his eyes at that moment had lifted her heart and at that moment she had felt remotely happy for the first time in three weeks.

'I know, Carter. Tomorrow's your next appointment with Frasier, right?' She nodded. 'She'll probably let you go back to work.'

'I hope so, sir. I'm going nuts here.'

'Tell yourself that as soon as your well enough you'll have to start PT.' She chuckled, shaking her head.

'You know, sir, I might just be desperate enough to prefer PT over doing nothing. I've read all my science journals. I have written a whole book which is nice because I had been meaning to do that for a while but now I've got nothing left to do. I've caught up on reading and watching movies I never had the chance to watch and I've spent a lot of time with Cassie. But I need to get out.'

He smiled and squeezed her uninjured knee once before he leaned forward to grab his beer and take a gulp, still holding the remote in his left hand, at the far side of the couch. Sam smiled back at him, grateful for the discreet and simple but meaningful gesture of support.

'In a few weeks you'll be back on your feet.' He frowned. 'Quite literally.' Sam chuckled and he grinned at having made her smile. 'Anyway, you'll be back on your feet and kicking goa'uld butt and it will all be forgotten.' She grinned at his attempt at pep talk but she was feeling too down to be really receptive to it.

'Janet said my knee will probably always hurt a bit even after I'm cleared for field work again.' He winced when he heard that.

'I'm sorry to hear that. She probably said you'll constantly get more sprains too.'

'Not in so many words. She wants me to really give my knee time to heal so it can get as strong as it will get so I won't get too many of them. I guess I'm inclined to agree with her if it will keep me in the field.' He nodded.

'Seems wise.'

'It does. Guess I'll also let PT do its job to make my knee stronger.' He nodded again.

'Well, we'll give you as much time as you need.' She smiled. 'But in the meantime, it's my turn to choose what we're watching.'

She chuckled and frowned, resting her head against the back of couch, starting to really feel tired. Daniel and Teal'c walked back into the room as well and reclaimed their spots. Daniel groaned, noticing that _The Simpsons_ were still on.

'Is it?' She wondered aloud, unable to remember who had chosen the movie they watched the last time they had visited her, three days ago.

'Yep.' She nodded but remained silent, her hand unconsciously moving to her knee. 'Does it hurt?'

'Huh?'

'Your knee.'

'Oh. Yeah, a little.' He shot her a sympathetic smile.

'Why don't you go to bed? We'll clean this up and leave when the _Simpsons_ marathon is finished.' She chuckled again.

'Exploiting my TV while I'm out of it, sir?'

'I would never do that.' He pretended, moving a hand to his chest, right over his heart and looking at her with an innocent grin.

'It seems you are, in fact, exploiting Major Carter television set.' Sam grinned and turned to look at Teal'c, though she didn't lift her head from the back of the couch.

'Thanks Teal'c.' She turned back to her Commanding Officer with a victorious grin. 'See, sir, Teal'c talks the truth.'

'I do not understand why I would lie or conceal the truth in matters such as these.' Daniel chuckled and Sam only grinned brighter.

'T, is it me or are you out to get me?'

'I am not.'

'Right. But feel free to go to bed whenever you're tired, Carter. Don't stay up on our account.' She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.

'Kicking me out of my own living room, sir?'

'If I did it would only be to send you to your bedroom. And it would only be for your own good.' He answered with a bright and way too innocent grin. 'But I'm not. Just make yourself at home.'

'Major Carter is, indeed, in her own home.' They both laughed and Daniel shook his head.

'You'd think after over six years on Earth he wouldn't take things as literally anymore.'

'Yeah, you'd think.' The Colonel mumbled before turning back to look at Sam who was yawning.

'I think I'll take you up on your offer, sir.' She mumbled.

She lifted her head off the back of the couch. It felt as if it weighed a ton and even though her concussion was mostly healed it, again, felt like a hammer was knocking on the inside of her skull. _Yes, sleep was definitely on the program._ Sam gingerly moved her leg so she could set her foot on the ground. She sighed when that was done. It was the most painful and most complicated task as she splint didn't allow her to bend her leg in the least and she either had to lean forward and push the table away or go a round-about way so she could lower her leg from the side of the table. There was way too much stuff scattered on the table to try and push it away without sending half of it tumbling and crashing to the ground. So she decided for the latter. Which was what she usually did anyway. It was why she chose to settle the pillows and her foot close to the right end of the table.

She didn't regret her decision. She groaned nonetheless and rubbed her knee, aware that the three men were watching her with worried glances. She looked up at them and offered them a smile.

'I'm fine.' She reassured.

'You're looking a bit pale Carter. You sure?'

'Yes, sir. I'm tired and this always hurts quite a lot.'

'Even with the meds?'

'Yes, sir. But I'm okay. It'll pass in a few minutes. And then I'll be asleep anyway. I don't think I'll last long.'

They all nodded and Sam stood up, remaining still for a second as she regained her compromised balance. She looked down at the table and wrinkled her nose, leaning down to pick up her cup and plate but a hand shot out to grab her wrist.

'Ah! Carter, what did we say about you cleaning up?'

'I'm not allowed to.'

'Exactly. Now go to bed and sleep. You look like you haven't seen a proper bed in six months.' She chuckled and looked at the time on her DVD player.

'Actually, sir, it's only been about fourteen hours. I can't believe how much I sleep because of those meds. I even took a nap this afternoon.'

'You're just enjoying not working. Don't get used to it. Your lab is getting dusty and needs attention.' She giggled. 'Carter. The rule still stands.'

'Yes, sir.'

'Good. Now shoo, go to bed.'

'Yes, sir. Are you sure you're okay with this?'

'Of course we are. We're not the ones with a screwed up knee.' She raised a meaningful eyebrow. 'And a splint.' She chuckled and shook her head, making her way past him. 'Need someone to drive you to the base tomorrow?'

'I was thinking about taking a cab.'

'Nonsense. I'm bored out of my skull at work; it'll give me something to do. What time are you supposed to see Frasier?'

'1100.'

'I'll be here at 1000.'

'Okay. Thank you, sir.'

'Welcome. Goodnight, Carter.'

'Goodnight, sir. Goodnight, Daniel. Goodnight, Teal'c.'

'Night, Sam.'

'I wish you a good night, Major Carter. May you have pleasant dreams.'

She smiled, thanked him and left the room, slowly and gingerly making her way down the hallway, blessing her one storey house that prevented her from having to walk up the stairs to her bedroom. At the same time, she wondered how she could possibly be so tired. She had slept an average of ten hours the previous nights, had taken a nap in the middle of the afternoon, had done nothing during the rest of the day and yet she felt like she could drop dead on her bed and fall asleep before her head even hit the pillow. There had better be something good to do once she got back to work because she would have a lot of pent-up energy to consume and if people hovered around her all the time, trying to make sure she was fine, she would most likely kill someone. She only hoped it wouldn't come to that.


End file.
